• NKANA players appreciating their fans for the support after a league match at Nkana stadium.

SPORT regardless of how huge or minor, is meaningless without the mention of fans.
Across a spectrum of sports disciplines, fans are the most important part to the team because.
This is simply because they are the reason why the players, staff, and coaches make money.
Fans are a significant constituency of sports as they are always willing to stand by a team through the highs and lows.
Be it hockey, football, soccer, baseball or anything else that leads to painted faces, filled seats, and cheering fans, sports fans are incredibly important.
Many sports teams in both minor and professional leagues have learned to harness that passion. They engage fans who contribute to the overall experience of sports.
Apart from boosting the various teams’ business through the sales of tickets, replica outfits or memorabilia, fans critical in boosting the team spirit and overall performance.
When a team ignores the passion of the game, the rivalries and controversies, they miss an opportunity to put themselves on the level of fans.
After losing to rival teams, fans don’t want to hear statements like “it was a good game,” they want to hear, “We will beat them next time” because positive statements build confidence in the fans.
Being a sports fan comes out of passion and it is therefore emotional.
Fans cheer for more than a team’s performance. A team’s win or loss plays a huge role in a fan’s satisfaction but this is also the variable that the teams have the least control over.
For sports teams to keep their fans, it’s not just about winning games or getting to the playoffs. A good number of fans have the passion that goes beyond their team’s performance.
During the good times and the bad, these fans are always there to show their support for their team and always give the players confidence out of passion and loyalty.
There is a difference between loyal fans and bandwagon fans. Loyal fans like their team during good or bad seasons. They offer support in the big games, and always stay on top of things by watching on Television or listening on the radio.
Bandwagon fans are those who only like the team on during periods of success but when it slumps of falls from grace, they gleefully jump on to the other team.
What really separates loyal fans from everyone else is not the number of years they have rooted for a team or the number of games they have watched, it is the simple fact that they consider the team they support, their own.
This is evident in how some Zambians have adopted the English Premier League clubs as their own teams even though they have never had a chance to physical watch their respective teams playing.
Whether we want to admit it or not, we have all become fans or bandwagoners of a team at some point of our sports life and every team has loyal or bandwagon fans.
Regardless of whether one is a loyal or a bandwagon fan, fans are really important in every game because of their ability to add value and excitement to the game.
It is always good to have big fans, but not fans that bother other people for what jersey, hat, t-shirt they have on.
In what could be considered a sort of simulated-family, teams and loyal fans share success as well as failure. There is no “they” when in reference to a sports team, there is only “we.”
English side Arsenal is one of the top clubs in European football but they have gone ten seasons without winning the league championship. In face of frustration, some fans have called for the removal of manager Arsene Wenger.
On the contrary, loyal fans still display a banner at the Emirates Stadium, home of Arsenal with the message that reads, “In Arsene we trust, keep the faith,” that’s a true definition of a real fan, who is loyal to the game.
We do have such fans in Zambia too. ‘Mighty’ Mufulira Wanderers is one good example. Having been wallowing in the lower division for nine years, the club has maintained its following.
Therefore, teams need to appreciate their fans as well as build strong relations with them because besides the obvious reason of cheering the team, loyal fans help make up the brand of a sports team.
Such fans don’t just concentrate on supporting the team during games, but they extend the reach and personify the brand that their teams represent.
Therefore, the importance of fans during the game cannot be overlooked.
As a confidence booster, fans have been known to have a hand in influencing the teams’ performance.
One practical example is the DR Congo football team that won bronze at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.
After the team made it to the quarterfinals, the Congolese government chartered a plane to ferry dozens of fans to Equatorial Guinea and it paid dividends during the game against Congo Brazzaville.
When it seemed unthinkable for DRC to win after a poor show that saw them trail 2-0 at half time, fans lifted the team’s spirit in the second half through cheers and chants and the team pulled off a surprise comeback to the match 4-2 and subsequently progress to the semifinals.
With the fans behind a team, there is always spark of excitement that keep players going during games even when a team fails to perform to the expected standards.
It is time to begin appreciating the fact that loyal fans are an integral part of every team’s success.
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